Electric switch.



0. E. HEIDEMANN.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-18.1912.

1,201,179. Patented Oct. 10,1916.

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0. E. HEIDEMANNA ELECTRIC SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT 18, \9|2.

Patented Oct. 10, 1916.

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ELECTRIC SWITCH.

APPLICATION mu) SEPT. 18. 1912.

Patented Oct. 10, 1916.

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OSWALD E. HEIDEMANN, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

Application filed. September 18, 1812.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OswALn EMILE Hmon- MANN, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Orleans, parish of Orleans, State of Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Switches, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention has reference to railway switches, and it comprehends, briefly, an improved electrically-controlled system for operating the movable switchrails, the system itself being wholly under the control of the engineer, who may set the same to shift the aforesaid switch-rails in either direction, according to the direction .from which the car or train approaches the switch and in which it is to travel after passing thereover.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of the improved electric switch-operating system, showing the switch open; Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the front truck of the car, showing the connection of the controller wires with the wheels; Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the car, showing the controller set to close the switch; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the closed switch and its associated parts; Figs. 5 and 6 are enlarged sections, taken, respectively, on the lines 5-5 and 66 of Fig. 4; Figs. 7 and 8 are detail views, respectively, of the casings wherein the two main elements of the system are housed. Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view showing a reversible motor connected in the circuit.

The invention is represented in the drawing as applied to a single-track steam railroad, although no limitation to that specific type of railroad is necessarily contemplated.

Referring to said drawing, A and D indicate the main track rails, and A and D the branch or siding rails.

B and C, and B and C, indicate, respec tively, the auxiliary rails disposed between the main and branch rails and included in the circuiting, as hereinafter described.

The movable switch-rails A? and B are disposed at the intersection ofthe main and branch t'racks, and are pivoted adjacent the usual frog and connected. to the switch an increment is Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 10, 1916.

Serial No. 721,074.

In the present embodiment of the invention, the rails specified are securely attached to a horizontal bar 1, in any suitable manner, and this bar, which extends transversely beneath the track rails, is, in turn, connected to and operated by a rack 2 that is disposed in alinement therewith and is shifted end wise in either direction by the main element 3, of the operating mechanism G, to correspondingly shift said rails A and B and open or close the switch. The aforesaid main element 3 is in preferably the form of a reversible motor, whose shaft 4 has afiixed to it the pinion 5 which meshes with and operates the rack 2, the energization of the motor being effected through the agency of the subsequently-described electric controller H. Both the motor and the rack are housed in suitable casings, to prevent tampering therewith, and entrance of dirt, gravel and other foreign material. The motor casing 6 is depicted in Fig. 7 and is constructed in such a manner as to permit it to be fitted over the motor; it is provided at two of its sides with hinged doors 6, and one of its two remaining sides is formed with a slot 6 through which the motor shaft 4 projects. The rack casing 7 is shown in Fig. 8, and is in the form of a trough, its end members being provided with openings 7 to permit the requisite movements of the rack.

The car or locomotive K, which trave s along the tracks, may also be of any preferred, or conventional, type, and is primarily designed for steam propulsion. Its front truck 8 is furnished with the usual front and rear pairs of wheels, 9, 9', and 10, 10, and, also, with a pair of auxiliary wheels 11, 11, disposed between the front and rear pairs aforesaid. In approaching the switch, the track wheels 9 and 10 and f) and 10 travel on the rails A and D of the main line or A and D of the side track, and the wheels 11 and 11 engage the intermediate rails B and C, respectively, of the main line or B and C of the side track, it being understood that the position of the truck or locomotive is reversed in approaching the switch from the right as compared with its position in approaching the switch from the left. The wheel 9 is electrically inlated from its axle, and the wheels 11 and 1 treat. th ir indica ed in Fig. 2. The aforesaid a a e, 11 at; it are elem trically connected by the wires a, b and c, with the switch 12, which constitutes the chief element of the controller H, the switch blade 12 having the wire 5 connected to it, while the wires a and 0 are respectively connected to the corresponding poles 12 and 12 of the switch, the other point on the switch being merely a dead contact indicating the neutral position of the switch blade. The storage battery 12 of the controller is disposed within the cab of the locomotive beneath the engineers seat, and the switch itself is located near the same, so as to permit it to be readily operated when the locomotive approaches the adjacent four-rail section of the track. As shown in Fig. 1, there are three of these sections, two included in the main track upon opposite sides of the switch, and the third in the branch track or siding, and each section is electrically connected with the motor 3, so that when the locomotive reaches a section, the switch-rails can be automatically shifted in the proper direction.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be understood that the rails A, B and C, and A, B and C are the only ones included in the electrical circuits. The rail A at each side of the switch is connected to the motor 3 by the wires a b and a and the branch or side track rail A is connected to the motor by the wires 0 and o The rail B at each side of the switch is connected to the motor by the wires 1) 0 and b and the rail B of the branch track is connected to the motor by the wires b and 5 The rail C at each side of the switch is connected to the motor by the wires 0 0, and a, and the branch track rail C is connected to the motor by the wires a a and a. Each of the three sets of connecting wires just described is preferably in cased in a flexible tubular metal pipe w, as shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 9 shows the connections for the reversible motor 3. As shown, the current through the armature of the motor always flows in the same direction, as the direction of rotation of the armature is reversed by reversing the polarity of the field. As shown, one brush for the armature is joined at a point midway between the two field magnet coils, one of these coils being connected to the rail A by the wire a and the other field coil being connected to the rail C by the wire a, the flow of current through the wires a or (1!, being controlled by the switch arm 12 engaging either the contact 12 or 12. It is to be observed that, with this arrangement, only one field coil is in circuit at a time, and that both coils are wound in the same direction so that both pole pieces will be of the same polarity.

The operation of the system may be briefly. described as fp1lows:-1n Fig. 1, the controller is shown in clear track position,

it being assumed that the moving vehicle is approaching the switch in a direction from the left and toward the right. The switch blade 12 is then on the contact 12 and the current passes from the battery 12 to the truck wheel 9 and thence to the track rail A, while the other terminal of the battery 12 is connected by the wire Z) to the contact 11, the latter being in engagement with the rail B. Starting with the track rail A in one side of the battery circuit, the current flows by the wire a and the wire a to the motor 3 and returns from the motor by the wire 6 wire I) to rail B, and thence to contact 11 and along wire Z) to the battery 12. If the switch is to be thrown with the vehicle approaching it in the same direction as before, the switch blade 12 is shifted to the switch point or contact 12. One pole of the battery 12 is then connected, as before, to the rail B by wire I) and contact 11, while the opposite pole of the battery 12 is connected to the rail C by contact 11, wire 0, switch contact 12, switch blade 12*, and thence to the battery. The rail B will then be connected to the motor 3 by wires 1) and 72 while the rail C will be connected to the motor by the wires 0 and a. The motor 3 being a re versible motor, as previously described, the current when passed therethrough with the latter described connections will cause its armature to rotate in a reverse direction, as compared with its direction of rotation for clear track, and will thereby shift the switch to open the siding.

It will be understood that when the loco motive or vehicle approaches the switch in a direction from the right toward the left on either the main track or the siding, the contact 11 as well as the truck wheels will be reversed; consequently, the order of these rails is shown reversed in Fig. 1 of the drawing.

The improved system above described is preferably operated in unison with a semaphore or similar signal mechanism S, and in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, this object is effected in the manner and by the means of the devices now following. A suitable tower 13 is erected at the side of the switch, and is furnished with a lantern, lamp, or the like, 14, and a semaphore arm 15 of any desired construction. This semaphore arm is pivotally connected at one end to the tower, adjacent the lantern, and is operated from the rack 2, through the agency of a bell-crank lever 16 which is pivoted at its apex to the said tower and has its vertical arm connected by a link 17 with said rack, its weighted horizontal arm having a rod connection 18 with the sema hore arm, so that the latter will be rocke upon its pivot in one direction or the other conse quent upon and in accordance with the end= wise movements of the rack.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

The combination with main and branch tracks and a switch located at the intersection thereof, of an electric motor operatively connected with said switch for shifting the same in either direction, a group of three electrical contact devices for each track, conductor wires electrically connecting the contact devices of each group and the motor and providing a pair of normally incomplete circuits by the closure of either of which the motor may be caused to rotate in one direction or the other, one of said wires through which current always flows in the same direction being common to both circuits, a car-carried source of electrical en ergy, car-carried contact elements adapted to engage said contact devices, and a car-carried controller having three contacts, a wire between each contact and a corresponding one of said contact elements, and a contact lever pivoted to one of said contacts and movable to engage either of the other con tacts to selectively close one of said normally incomplete circuits, said source of electrical energy being interposed in a Wire which is joined to the contact to which said contact lever is pivoted and by its contact element and the contact device engaged by said element is electrically connected to the said wire which is common to the said normally incomplete circuits.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing wit- Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. 0. 

